1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to an information recording apparatus, an information reproducing apparatus, an information recording method, an information reproducing method, and computer programs related thereto. This invention particularly relates to a method and an apparatus for recording information representative of moving pictures and at least one still picture on a recording medium, a method and an apparatus for reproducing information representative of moving pictures and at least one still picture from a recording medium, and computer programs related thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese patent application publication number 5-292445/1993 discloses a video magnetic recording apparatus including first and second image pickup systems. The first image pickup system is an optical system provided with a wide angle lens. The second image pickup system is an optical system provided with a zoom lens. A video signal obtained by the first image pickup system and a video signal obtained by the second image pickup system are multiplexed on a time sharing basis before being recorded on a common magnetic recording medium. Thus, video signals of plural types, that is, a wide angle type and a zoom type, are recorded on a single recording medium.
Japanese patent application publication number 2004-72148 discloses an audio-visual data recording apparatus including a prism, a first CCD device for capturing low-resolution moving pictures, and a second CCD device for capturing high-resolution still pictures. The prism splits an incoming light beam into two beams applied to the first and second CCD devices respectively. The first CCD device generates a video signal representing a stream of moving pictures. The second CCD device generates a video signal representing an updatable still picture. The moving-picture signal is compressed according to the MPEG standards. The still-picture signal is compressed according to the JPEG standards. The compressed moving-picture signal and the compressed still-picture signal are simultaneously recorded on a common memory card.
Japanese patent application publication number 11-76159/1999 discloses an imaging apparatus including a semitransparent mirror and first and second CCD devices of a same structure. The semitransparent mirror splits an incoming light beam into two beams applied to the first and second CCD devices respectively. The positions of the first and second CCD devices relative to the incident light beams are positionally offset from each other by half-pixel intervals in horizontal and vertical directions. The first and second CCD devices generate first and second video signals, respectively. First pixels represented by the first video signal, second pixels represented by the second video signal, and third pixels or missing pixels compose a complete high-resolution image. A video signal segment representative of one of the missing pixels is generated from segments of the first and second video signals which represent pixels neighboring the missing pixel in question on an interpolation basis. The first video signal, the second video signal, and the video signal segments representative of the missing pixels are combined to form a high-resolution video signal.
Japanese patent application publication number 2002-152743 discloses an apparatus for decoding a moving-picture signal which includes a decoder, a CPU, a display, and a timer. The decoder receives input encoded video data from a recording medium or a communication line, and decodes the received video data for every field while being controlled by the CPU. The decoded video data is fed to the display via a memory. The display has a section for generating second video data from the decoded video data. The second video data represents an updatable high-quality still picture which remains stationary regardless of an inter-field picture motion. The display has a selector for choosing either the decoded video data or the second video data as output video data. The selector responds to operation of the timer. The timer is controlled by the CPU. Under normal conditions, the timer is reset by the CPU for every frame so that the selector continues to choose the decoded video data. In the event that the decoding of the input video data for a frame is unsuccessful due to a damage to the recording medium or a communication fault, the CPU does not reset the timer so that the selector chooses the second video data instead of the decoded video data.
In the previously-mentioned apparatus of Japanese patent application publication number 2004-72148, the moving-picture signal and the still-picture signal are independently recorded on the memory card although they originate from a same scene or scenes. Therefore, the total number of bits composing the recorded moving-picture and still-picture signals tends to be relatively great.